When Belgium’s Euro 2016 squad was announced on Thursday morning, the notable absentee was Vincent Kompany. The Manchester City centre-back was ruled out of the tournament with a calf problem last week, but that was ultimately confirmed when Marc Wilmots named his team. His absence is a blow, of that there is no doubt. Kompany’s leadership qualities will have played a huge role in the Red Devils’ pursuit of European Championship glory, though Belgium must now prepare accordingly without the 30-year-old.
Not only will the defensive burden now need to be shouldered by his international teammates, but the armband is also passed on. Eden Hazard will undertake captain responsibilities for the tournament, with the former PFA Player of the Year recently returning to form. Hazard has won the WhoScored man of the match award five times in the Premier League this season, three of which have come in his last four top-flight outings.
After a season to forget for Hazard, his recent performances have been of the standard expected of the Belgian. Indeed, his four Premier Legaue goals this term have been scored in those four games as the 25-year-old aims to end the campaign on a high. His form has picked up at just the right time for the national team, though comes too late for Chelsea.
The Blues’ Premier League title defence was far from successful, with Chelsea no longer able to finish higher than ninth this season. Their poor outings saw Jose Mourinho relieved of his duties back in December and while Guus Hiddink steadied the ship somewhat, the displays were far from inspiring. Hazard was one whose form coincided with Chelsea’s underwhelming performances.
His WhoScored rating this season (7.10) is way down from the lofty 7.96 last term, with his 14 goals and nine assists contributing to that. The latter, though, was not for want of trying. Only Mesut Ozil (90) and Christian Eriksen (82) have played more key passes from open play in the Premier League this season than Hazard (63). Had Diego Costa been on top of his game, chances are Hazard’s assist return would be higher, but it goes without saying that he struggled this campaign.
Ongoing injury concerns, though, played a part in his disappointing performances. Hazard sustained a hip injury in the 2-1 defeat to Leicester back in January following a rash Jamie Vardy challenge and having been rushed back from the problem, continued to struggle through games, in the process denting his displays.
However, he clearly benefitted from the prolonged spell on the sidelines as his recent performances suggest. His WhoScored rating from the last four Premier League game weeks is a resounding 8.73, better than any other player to feature in two of the last four fixtures since his return on the weekend of the 23rd of April. It’s a vast improvement on the 6.84 from the matches before that date.
Since his return to action, only Riyad Mahrez (19) has made more successful dribbles than Hazard (18). The directness he provided so willingly last season - and had been lacking earlier in the campaign - has been on show once more with the attacker returning to his peak at just the right time for the national team. The main hope now is that he can remain injury free up until Euro 2016.
With Chelsea hosting Leicester this weekend - incidentally the reverse fixture of the match he originally sustained his hip problem - Wilmots will be hoping his captain does not succumb to another injury before the European Championship. While he’s not one to bark orders across the pitch, Hazard can instead lead by example and while this was not the case for a vast majority of the season, the Belgium international has begun to do just that following a return to fitness.
Performances against Spurs and Liverpool - the former from the bench - inspired his teammates and the hope now is he can do similar with Belgium in France this summer. It’s been a tough campaign for Hazard, but after a difficult few months, he looks back to his best for the Blues. While it has come too late for Chelsea to mount a challenge for domestic honours this term, Belgium’s chances of winning a first European Championship improve significantly.
Furthermore, incoming Chelsea manager Antonio Conte will be enthused that Hazard looks at the top of his game, particularly with the player confirming he wants to stay at Stamford Bridge to work with the Italian. If Conte can manage Hazard accordingly – and importantly the player can remain free of injury – he will become a crucial star once more as the former Juventus boss aims to hit the ground running in his debut season in England.
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